


Sweet Child o' Mine

by Anonymous



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Always a Different Sex, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, BAMF Tony Stark, Civil War Team Iron Man, Extremis Tony Stark, F/M, Female Tony Stark, I'm still salty, Kidfic, Kinda, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Not Steve Rogers Friendly, Parent Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:41:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28752345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: A genderbender fic where Tony Stark is born as a girl, and Morgan Stark is born a few years early.In other words, Toni Stark is forced to get her shit together after the Civil War and shows the world (and the universe) that while you really shouldn't mess with a Stark, messing with two Starks is so, so much worse.
Relationships: Loki & Tony Stark, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe) & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Tony Stark & Everyone, Tony Stark & Stephen Strange, Tony Stark & T'Challa, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange, past Steve Rogers/Tony Stark - Relationship
Comments: 62
Kudos: 482
Collections: Anonymous





	1. Hope of Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeeeeah I have no idea what I'm doing, I'm probably just going to bullshit my way through this.  
> Fair warning that there is going to be some anger directed at the Rogue Avengers here. You can show your dislike of that choice in the comments if you want but I'll probably just laugh at you.  
> Nice comments always make my day, though, and constructive criticism is always welcome. 
> 
> Cookies for people who figure out the song references.

> _“The single quality that is common across every living creature on this planet, is fear; it’s funny then that as common as fear is, we so easily underestimate its power._
> 
> _Fear of growing close to someone, the subsequent fear of loss, fear of failure; and as more people depend on you, those fears can take on greater power._
> 
> _Fear itself isn’t worthy of concern, it is who we become while in its clutches. Will you be proud of that person? Will you forgive them? Will you understand why they felt the need to do the things they did? Will you even recognize them? Or will the person staring back at you be the very thing you should have feared from the start?_
> 
> _I suppose we all find out sooner or later.”_

At first there was only darkness, pure and all encompassing. And it wasn’t the kind of darkness that surrounded, protected, and hid, oh no, far from it. Instead, it was empty, cruel, and cold. So, so cold. There was nothing there, nothing to hold on to, nothing to ground her. She just floated in a dark infinity, alone and terrified.

But then, something changed.

It came as voices emerging from the dark, reaching for her. It was nothing special, but they were talking, talking, talking and all she could think of was that she wanted them to never shut up, to keep talking, always.

So that she wouldn’t be so lonely anymore.

She didn’t know who was talking, whose voices she was hearing, but she recognized it as friendly. As safe. And so, the fear let up.

But then something changed again.

The light behind her eyelids was sudden and uncomfortable, and it should have annoyed her, it always did. But now, she couldn’t find it in herself to ask JARVIS to dim the lights.

Wait.

No, that’s not right.

JARVIS? No, not JARVIS. FRIDAY.

Who is FRIDAY?

_…Good evening, Boss…_

That name echoed in her head, lines of codes chasing each other, but making no sense as they twisted and deformed in her head. There was the word ‘Boss’, coming up again and again, in a voice she knew but didn’t quite know.

_…We have some weapon systems that are offline…_

She did program that voice, didn’t she? Yeah, speech synthesis, not that hard, she could do that when she was what, ten? Deep learning really isn’t that complicated, and she is the best in the field when it came to Artificial Intelligence.

She did create JARVIS and FRIDAY.

There was that voice again, in her memories, calling her ‘Boss’, sassing her like nobody’s business. But she was gone, wasn’t she? Why was she gone? Where did she go? Did she leave her like JARVIS?

But no, no, that’s not quite right either.

Between lines of coding and twisted, jumbled up memories of schematics of weapons and armours, she found a new, untouched memory. It came to her like a whisper, edging around her consciousness, slithering between the cracks. At first, it was only colours, colours of blue and white and red. Mostly red. So much red, that it was slowly drowning out everything else.

_…Scanning. Countermeasures ready…_

And then, there was that sound. The sound of something metal – Vibranium? It sounded like vibranium - breaking gold-titanium alloy as if it was nothing but scrap metal.

And then, there was an image. It was Steve, beautiful, confident Steve, above her, staring at her. But it was all wrong. His eyes weren’t looking at her with love, like they usually did. Like they should.

_…I can do this all day…_

Oh no, it was something much, much worse. And Toni knew that emotion all too familiarly. That, right there, was hatred. Hatred, and determination, and anger. And fear. So much fear. Fear of her?

It didn’t matter, a voice whispered in her mind.

_…He is my friend…_

And suddenly, Steve moved, raising his shield, bringing it **down, down, down**.

The sound of the vibranium shield destroying the arc reactor echoed in her head as her eyes shot open and she sat up, a silent scream in her throat as she trashed in her panic.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” somebody, - _Pepper? -_ said in a calming, hushing voice. “It’s alright, you are safe.”

Toni blinked. Then blinked again.

This was most definitely not Siberia, unless someone did some serious remodelling of that bunker. Like, serious remodelling, since it appeared that she was in the Avengers Compound’s medical bay.

“FRIDAY?” she croaked out, her voice barely complying. “Are you here?”

“I’m here, Boss,” came the answer from the ceiling. “I have notified the medical personnel that you have woken up.”

Toni let out a relieved sigh. “Tell them to stay back for a few more minutes, will you? I need a moment.”

“Of course, Boss.”

A hand landed on her arm, and she almost jumped in fright.

_A shield, coming down, down, down._

“Hey Pep,” Toni breathed, forcing a smile as she looked at her friend. “How’s it hangin’?”

Pepper didn’t look good. She was beautiful, of course she was, and her hair, makeup and clothing were as flawless as they always were. Perfectly professional, impeccable. But there was a haunted look in her red-rimmed eyes, and while she smiled back, it was pained and sad.

“Toni,” she breathed, a single tear escaping her eyes and running down her face. “I’m so glad you are awake. I was so worried, I…” her voice faltered. “Are you alright? How are you feeling?”

“Peachy, right as rain,” Toni smiled, and it might have come out a little forced, but at least she was trying. “Best feeling tin can in the history of tin cans.”

Pepper smiled back, but it was more sad than happy. “I… we should probably let the doctors check you out. Make sure everything is fine.”

Toni shook her head vehemently. “No, wait, before we that,” she hesitated, he eyes flicking to the door, “can I get an update? How is everyone? How is Rhodey?”

Pepper’s lips pressed into a thin line, but she didn’t look away. “He is still in the hospital. Most of the Avengers are missing, location unknown, along with the Winter Soldier. Vision is somewhere outside, waiting for you to wake up. Spiderman is fine, got back home safe and sound.”

Toni blinked and nodded, her brain working overtime as it tried to parse the influx of information. She was glad that the kid was safe. The memories still haunted her, the way he lay there, mask half scrunched up, telling her that he is fine, fine, fine, when he was definitely NOT fine.

Rhodey still in the hospital, not really surprising, even though it still hurt. But most of the Avengers missing? They had been in the Raft when she’d last seen them, not missing; a jailbreak then. Steve? Yeah, probably.

She must have been out for, what, two days, maybe? Otherwise, they would have already moved Rhodey here. But Pepper was quite haunted, a mess really, so she must have been worrying for quite some time.

“What’s the date?” she asked, her right hand closing around Pepper’s in an effort to calm both of them. They were unnaturally cold and shaking. Bad circulation, probably from the stress. Poor Pepper.

“May 8th. You’ve been out for two and a half days.” The CEO’s mouth quirked downwards slightly. “There were… complications.”

Ah yes, Toni could imagine that being true. Frostbite, probably. Heavy damage in her chest area. They probably had to replace the arc reactor. Vision? He knew how, from his JARVIS days. Judging by the fact that Toni was surprisingly not dead - some could even call it alive - he must have been successful, because this version of extremis didn’t work for long without an arc reactor.

“Well, of course there were,” she replied not a moment later, “Complications is my middle name.” She tried to sound flippant, if only to lighten the mood slightly, all the while searching for Pepper’s gaze.

The CEO wouldn’t look her in the eyes.

“How bad is Rhodey’s situation?” she asked finally, fighting the urge to fidget. “He is mostly fine, right?”

Pepper was silent for a moment, each second making Toni’s stomach sink lower.

“He is… managing,” Pepper said finally, staring at her lap. “But he will probably never walk again.” She bit her lip, and finally, finally looked up. There was sadness in her eyes, but also… hope? Maybe? “But don’t worry about him now. He is strong. But there is something you should know. About your recovery.”

There was an echo of pain and anger in Toni’s heart, and a hurricane of thoughts in her head. She couldn’t care less about herself, not right now, but it seemed it really bothered Pepper, so she should probably get it over with.

She was about to do just that, when she realized how truly bad Pepper looked. It wasn’t just a slight case of worry and stress that she experienced quite frequently lately, no. She seemed to be terrified, her body shaking more and more with every passing moment, even if her expression was steeled.

“Pep?” Toni said tentatively, strengthening her grip around Pepper’s hand the slightest bit. “Hey, Pep, my favourite CEO, I’m gonna need you to take a breath there okay? Calm down, nice and easy.” She gave her a reassuring smile. “Everything is fine. I’m fine. See?” she pointed at herself. “Extremis fixed me right up. And you bet I’m gonna fix Rhodey, too. Not with extremis, I’d never do that to him, but he’ll walk again. I’m a mechanic, I fix things, I…”

“Toni, please stop.”

And she did. She stopped, words stuck in her throat as she looked at Pepper.

“I… I watched the footage of your suit,” Pepper started, her gaze on her lap again. “Of Siberia.”

And wow. A sucker punch, that one, right in the gut. Toni felt like she’d throw up, and she could hear the heart monitor speed up by her bedside. But she remained silent.

“I’m sorry about your parents, and I just want you to know that you didn’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve any of that.” Pepper stopped, taking a big breath. “What Steve did to you was cruel and heartless, and if you didn’t have extremis in your system, you would have died. Do you understand that, Toni? He left you there. In subzero temperatures, without a functioning suit and with a barely functioning extremis. He knew that the arc reactor was powering the virus in you, and yet he broke it anyway.” Her voice faltered, but she looked up, determination shining in her eyes. “Before I tell you anything else, I need you to promise me something.”

Toni opened her mouth, but the words stopped in her throat, choking her. She knew all this already, suspected it at least. The pain was still fresh, seeing her parents die in such a horrible, horrible way. And the fact that Steve, her boyfriend, her lover, used her money to search for their killer, all the while keeping the truth from her? It was a pain as strong as when Obadiah tore her heart out.

And then there was the image of Steve bringing the shield down on her chest. Going for the kill, if unintentionally. Right for her heart, physically and metaphorically.

“Promise me that you and Rogers? You are done.” Pepper’s voice was cold and demanding, full of anger and righteous hatred. It would have made Toni recoil if she didn’t feel the same. “Promise me that you will not fight for him. You will not try to get him back. No matter what happens.” Another tear ran down her face, ruining her perfect makeup, if only slightly. “Promise me, Toni.”

Toni blinked away a tear and nodded. “I promise.”

Pepper’s features steeled again. “Good. Because he has no right to be in your life anymore. Not after what had happened. He has no right to you, nor to your child.”

Toni blinked at Pepper, uncomprehending. Did Pepper just imply what Toni was thinking she implied?

Theories raced through her head. Yeah, her period was late, but she was incredibly stressed lately, so that didn’t mean anything. It happened more often than not, lately. And she couldn’t get pregnant. Extremis made her infertile.

Right?

And even if she was pregnant, by some God given miracle, there was no way that the pregnancy would have survived what happened in Siberia. Her body was throughoutly ruined, she knew that, she remembered that.

_The shield coming down, down, down._

“Not to be rude or anything, but Pep, are you sure you read the right report? Because you are spouting nonsense. Or are we talking hypothetical? A metaphorical child? Because that is one weird…”

“You are pregnant, Toni,” the CEO interrupted bluntly, before she smiled slightly, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “We don’t know how it’s possible. But it’s true.”

Toni shook her head. “Not possible. Extremis, remember? I know it gets confusing that I don’t light up like a low budget firework, but it’s still in me.” Her hand came up to her arc reactor, lightly tapping away against it in her nervousness. “I can’t get pregnant.”

“Multiple doctors confirmed it. FRIDAY confirmed it.” Pepper’s eyes didn’t leave Toni’s this time as she talked. “And instead of stopping the pregnancy, extremis… extremis protected it. Somehow. While you were in Siberia, and even before.”

Toni didn’t know what to say. Didn’t know how to feel. It shouldn’t have been possible. It wasn’t possible.

But then again, neither was the existence of the Viking gods and the cube that could open portals. Or the sceptre that could brainwash people and create murderous Artificial Intelligences that stole other people’s ideas and turned them inside out.

Okay, maybe this wasn’t the most impossible thing in her life, but it was still. Impossible.

“Are we sure? Absolutely sure?” she asked in a faint voice, her eyes staring at the wall far across from her.

“Yes.”

_Oh._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own the MCU, so all rights to the ones who do.  
> Except for the quote at the beginning, that is from RWBY.


	2. The end is where we begin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Making lists, locking away old friends, being overly dramatic (duh, it's Toni!), and of course, someone bringing the cattitude.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I swear I adore T'Challa to bits, but this needed to be done. He will be a positive figure in the fic from this point onward.

> _“A smaller, more honest soul... It's true that a simple spark can ignite hope, breathe fire into the hearts of the weary. The ability to derive strength from hope is undoubtedly mankind's greatest attribute.”_

It’s amazing how one’s priorities can change their entire world. And Toni’s priorities changed. Drastically.

She spent two day just staring at the wall, uncomprehending. Her brain, a true gem according to some, one of a kind according to others, couldn’t comprehend the news. Her getting pregnant never should have happened. When she chose to inject herself with extremis, she knew what she was giving up on, and she did it anyway, because she knew, she _knew_ that something was coming, and she couldn’t afford to be weak.

Not ever again.

She had a fight with Steve right after that. He couldn’t accept her decision, called her selfish and paranoid. Told her that it wasn’t just her choice.

He never quite forgave her for it either.

Ironic.

There wasn’t one big change, one huge revelation that made her stop staring at the wall and get to work. Instead, when she finally decided to do something, it was because she thought through all the options and made a decision.

And consequently, she made a list.

  1. _Protect the child. They are now priority._
    1. _No caffeine_
    2. _No alcohol_
    3. _Fix your sleeping schedule? (Call a psychiatrist?)_
    4. _Eat frequently and healthily_
    5. _Ask Pepper for additional advice!!_
  2. _Living space is important. Protected, safe, easily accessible._
  3. _Armour upgrades: needs to be safer_
  4. _Accords to be amended, made good enough for the future generations_
  5. _Tell he Accords Council, but warn them why they would better keep their mouth shut_
  6. _Make sure to keep it from the public – do something about public appearances?_
  7. _Rogue Avengers to be ~~fucking~~ hecking destroyed_
  8. _No swearing_
  9. _Update FRIDAY so she can help with the new lifestyle_
  10. _Get rid of Ross. He is a menace_
  11. _Check up on SHIELD?_



After she was done with it, she stared at the list for a long time before forwarding it to Pepper.

Then, she went to work.

First, she scrapped the idea of selling Avengers tower and renamed it to Stark tower. She wasn’t going to raise a child in a place called the Avengers tower, please. She had standards.

Even if she must have forgotten about them for the last four years, when she got with Rogers.

Thankfully, nothing was signed yet, so there weren’t any mayor obstacles. Obviously, the buyer was going to be disappointed, but she was sure they would understand. And if they didn’t, well, letting Pepper loose on them was always an option.

With that done, she got rid of all the alcoholic beverages in the penthouse and told FRIDAY to make sure nobody brings any either, just to make sure. The penthouse was officially an alcohol-free zone, from that moment on.

But that was the easier part. The next step was much, much more painful.

She locked away the coffee machine. Honestly, it felt like she was locking away a beloved friend and confidant along with it, and she was sure to be scarred for life. A true tragedy, in all sense of the word.

Then she asked FRIDAY to keep an eye on Dum-E, so the robot would only make healthy smoothies.

After that, she called a trusted psychiatrist, one whose number she had been eyeing for a while, but never actually acted on. But her kid deserved to have a functioning mother, for one, and for the pregnancy to progress healthily she needed to be as healthy as possible, physically and mentally.

Pepper got back to her two days later with a few additional advices and sent her a diet plan. With lots of healthy things.

Toni wondered whether she could get away just going into coma until delivery instead.

…Yeah, she had no idea why Pepper kept calling her overly dramatic.

The next available problem on the list was deciding what to do with her public appearances. She was a public figure through and through, and after the shitshow that was Civil War she would need top notch excuses to stay out of the limelight. And if that wasn’t enough, she needed to give the Accords Council a reason to leave her alone.

One thing she was certain about: she didn’t want the world to know about her pregnancy just yet, for multiple reasons: the safety of her child, for one, and to protect them from the public eye. She also didn’t want Rogers to find about them. If he did, he would without a doubt try to return from Wakanda, with all his self-righteous stubbornness and stupidity. As if Toni was going to let a law breaking, lying son-of-a-bitch near her child.

Never again.

Not after what he had kept from her, and what he had done to her.

And that’s not even mentioning what he had done to the Avengers by thinking he knew better than 117 countries. Who the fuck does that?

Yeah, she could understand that the idea of another Hydra-SHIELD hybrid scared him, but for the sake of all that is holy, he went about it the stupidest, dumbest, most ridiculous way. Throwing your hands in the air, refusing to negotiate and saying nah I’m not doing it is NOT a solution. Tony grew out of doing that by the time she was like four.

She told him they could and would amend the Accords. He fucking knew that.

But then of course he had to go and throw a hissy fit because someone who just accidently killed a truckload of people and was in danger of getting thrown out of the country was kept at home.

Toni really hoped there wouldn’t be a global pandemic in their lifetime, because that girl obviously didn’t know how to stay at home when the situation called for it.

And by the way, trashing said home in an escape attempt that resulted in fighting Toni, the owner of the home, while she was just trying to keep that stupid witch ass from being deported was one of the most incredulously outrageous things that had ever been done to Toni.

Destroying the home that has been given to you as a present is just insulting in ways that Toni. Could. Not. Even.

And yeah, sure Vision was fine, but who the fuck throws someone through the floor because they don’t agree? The hell, Maximoff?

But back to the matters at hand, she needed to figure out what to tell the council. Her handler was expected to make an appearance in a week or so, and she couldn’t exactly lie to them. Which would mean that her current… state would be put into her file, and while it wasn’t public, it would still be available to members of the council, such as one very catlike king.

A king with some really annoying houseguests, who couldn’t, under any circumstances, find out about her current predicament. And that meant she needed to get ahead of it all.

Which was why it was surprisingly convenient when one bright Sunday afternoon, a few days after Siberia, Pepper called her with the news that one Wakandan king wished to have a personal meeting with her. But then Pepper also offered to verbally send the guy to a place that had much warmer climate and was not Africa.

That probably wasn’t the most politically sound option, but it made Toni chuckle nonetheless.

Pepper was quite displeased when Toni accepted the offer, but the engineer knew what she was doing.

She was taking control of the narrative, by any means necessary.

Which was how she ended up at the Avengers compound, not a week later, waiting at the landing pad and talking to Rhodey on the phone.

“Let it be said that I was against this meeting until the very end,” the colonel stated, looking tired through the small screen.

“Your opinion has been noted, and consequentially ignored,” Toni answered with faux cheerfulness. She couldn’t quite stop her nervous fidgeting, and her suit was ready to be called at any moment. FRIDAY was on high alert as well, because one could never be too careful with enhanced individuals.

And yes, the fact that Toni was one of as well only reaffirmed her opinion about the matter.

“As always,” her friend nodded with a sigh.

“Hey, I take offense in that,” she smiled at him, before looking up at the landing quinjet, “But I gotta go, the feline party has arrived.”

She disconnected the call and pocketed the phone, allowing herself one more moment of weakness before steeling herself. But as the quinjet’s back opened, she tensed, and the watch on her wrist buzzed to alert her of her elevated heartbeat.

She forced herself to take a few deep breaths, but she didn’t allow herself to show any weakness.

_‘You can do this Toni, come on.’_

The king appeared not a moment later, two fierce looking women accompanying him as he descended the ramp. All three were dressed in what appeared to be traditional Wakandan clothing, which really had no right to look as good as it did.

Toni smiled at them, but it was not returned. The women eyed her as if she was some kind of scum on the bottom of their shoe. It was rather disconcerting.

The king didn’t exactly seem happy to see her either, but at least he looked to be more on the neutral side than on the ‘I hate you; you are a vile being’ side. Toni considered that a win.

“Miss Stark,” he greeted politely, once they were standing face to face. Well, as face to face as they could, considering Toni was much shorter.

He held out a hand for a handshake.

“Your highness,” Toni nodded, gripping his hand firmly. “I must say it is a pleasure to meet you. Officially, without all the, you know” she made a dismissing hand gesture “airport battles and revenge plots.”

The edges of the king’s mouth quirked up the slightest bit. “Likewise, Miss Stark.”

After that, it was all smiling and nodding as they exchanged pleasantries and made their way towards the meeting room. The bodyguards, called Dora Milaje as Toni learned during the introductions, followed dutifully, always one step behind their king. Always silent but watchful. Toni could feel their gazes on her with every step she took.

They even refused the offer to sit at the table in the conference room, instead opting to stand on either side of their king, one step away from the table, while he sat in front of Toni.

“I understand you wished to meet with me because of the Accords,” Toni started once they got settled, fighting the urge to fidget.

“Yes,” the king agreed immediately, nodding for good measure. “My father, as you well know, was one of the leading figures of the Sokovia Accords, and I wish to follow his legacy.”

And, well, that sentence just asked for it.

Toni fought the urge to roll her eyes at the sheer hypocrisy. She didn’t want to be _that_ rude. She had no such qualms against voicing her opinion, though.

“That’s nice and all, but that kinda goes against you hiding Rogers and his merry band of Accord deniers, doesn’t it?” she drawled, with the politest tone she could manage considering the circumstances.

Unsurprisingly, that was not the right thing to say. The king’s face darkened, and his two bodyguards stiffened in response. If they looked disdained before, now they looked downright murderous. Toni made sure that her face didn’t change the slightest bit from the polite smile she had on, even though her watch buzzed again.

“I am afraid that I do not have any knowledge of what you speak,” the king answered slowly. “Are you accusing my kingdom of hiding criminals?” There was a subtle threat in his tone, a warning. It reminded Toni of a cat, ready to pounce on its chosen prey.

Dangerous.

“Your words, kittycat, not mine.” Toni widened her smile. “But no, I’m not accusing you of anything. But hypothetically, if you were hiding the Rogue Avengers, wouldn’t that, you know, hypothetically go against your belief in the Accords? Hypothetically, of course.”

T’Challa blinked at her in confusion, before understanding took its place. “ _Hypothetically_ , my belief in the Accords would have nothing to do with, _hypothetically_ , helping out people I’ve wronged.” He offered her a smile, but it wasn’t kind. “But I must admit, for someone who publicly claims to have been damaged badly during a battle in Siberia, which you have no proof that I was not present for, you look rather well.”

Toni snorted. “Sorry to burst your bubble, but your little ‘I have dirt on you too’ game isn’t going to work here.” Her eyes flicked to the Dora Milaje, just to make sure they still didn’t move. “But we will get back to that. For now, yes, I want all the help I can get with getting the Accords back from Ross, so I appreciate you reaching out to me. That’s why you are here, isn’t it?”

The king, probably unsure what her game was, nodded slowly. “Indeed. I understand that it has been rather altered since my father’s demise.”

“Yeah, and it was never perfect to begin with,” Toni agreed readily. “It’s amazing how Ross can screw something up so spectacularly in only a few days.”

T’Challa nodded. “He used the bombing in… in Vienna” the king faltered, before taking a deep breath and continuing “to his advantage in a disgusting, vile way. But I believe that together, we may be able to… better them in a way so they may never be used like that again. No more Rafts.”

“Yeah well, that’s actually something we agree on.” Toni leaned back in her chair but didn’t break eye contact. “no more Rafts. And yeah, the Accords? They need to be amended, I knew that before we began, just like your father knew that, and it seems you know that as well.” She shrugged. “I even said as much to my now ex-boyfriend.” She smirked. “You can hypothetically ask him.”

The king nodded again, his posture losing the slightest bit of tenseness. “Then we are in agreement. I take it you accept the idea of the collaboration then? One where we help each other to reach an end we both strive for.”

Toni held back a chuckle at the phrasing. “Yes, that sounds ideal. I’m guessing holographic communication won’t be a problem?”

The king’s expression didn’t give anything away, but his eyes turned cold again immediately. “I’m afraid we don’t possess such technology in Wakanda.”

“And here he goes insulting my intelligence again,” Toni sighed, fighting the urge to rub her eyes. “Please don’t make me start talking in hypotheticals again. I’m way too tired for this shit. And I’m supposed to be avoiding stress. And you” she pointed at him dramatically, “are stressing me, your Highness.”

The king didn’t seem to have any idea how to respond to that, so he stared at her in silence for a long moment before nodding “I am… sure we will be able to figure something out.”

“Good, then that’s settled,” Toni nodded with as much cheerfulness as she could muster. “But, before you go, there is something else I need to talk to you about, and frankly, it’s rather private.” Her eyes flickered to the bodyguards again. “You know, ‘feline ears only’ kind of private.”

“We will not leave our king,” one of the women protested immediately. “Especially not with a woman such as yourself.”

Toni raised an eyebrow. “Care to elaborate?”

The bodyguard had a rather unmistakable ‘don’t mind if I do’ face on, but the king raised a hand placatingly. “Let us not start a fight. My Dora Milaje are among my most trusted. You can trust them with the information as much as you can trust me.”

Toni wanted nothing more to tell them that that was, admittedly, not much.

But she didn’t exactly have a choice here.

“Very well,” she allowed, keeping her eyes on the King. “I’m guessing you haven’t looked at the classified information in my Accords file yet, or you would already know that me being badly injured in a fight and sitting here without a scratch aren’t mutually exclusive.”

That made the king raise an eyebrow, and he tilted his head to the side in a laughingly catlike way. “Are implying you are enhanced, Miss Stark?”

“Not implying, I’m saying it,” Toni shrugged. “It’s in my file, so no point in denying.”

The king nodded slowly. “May I inquire about its origin?”

Toni made a face, knowing all too well how her next few sentences would be received. “This may not sound feasible to you, but I know that _something is coming_. Laugh at me all you want, but _someone_ sent Loki here four years ago, and we still don’t know who or why. But I’m doing my best to prepare. So instead of removing the arc reactor in my chest, I now use it to power a virus in my body.”

Toni could feel the women’s gazes turn from hostile to judgemental, but she made sure that her body language didn’t change one bit.

“So, you have injected yourself with this… Superserum of sorts?” The king clarified, his eyes calculating. “Which is, in fact, a virus?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “But this isn’t what I wish to talk to you about, as fascinating as it is. There is something else that is going to be added to my file not much later, something that I’m willing to do _anything_ keep it from your… hypothetical guests.” She leaned closer, studying the faces in front of her. “I’m mostly counting on your honour, but if that isn’t enough, I will call upon your debt. And if that isn’t enough either, then I’ve… less justifiable methods, especially concerning your hypotheticals.”

“You dare to…” one of the woman started, enraged, but T’Challa silenced them again with raising a hand. He stood his ground against her stare, unblinking and unyielding.

“My honour is not something that you have any right to address,” he said finally. “And I do not owe any debts to you, and I do not believe you wish for us to tarnish our work relationship with something as pitiful as blackmailing each other.”

Toni felt like laughing, but instead, she just sharpened her smile. “Yeah, all of those? You are so wrong there, it’s actually kind of amusing.”

The king didn’t seem impressed, and neither did hos bodyguards. “How so?”

“How about we cut the bullshit?” Toni offered coldly. “You see, I know you were in Siberia, and that means I know you left me there.”

“Even if I was there,” the king said angrily, “you are hardly my responsibility. I cannot be blamed for this.”

This time, Toni did laugh. “Your Highness, do we not believe in morality anymore? Because the arc reactor in my chest was crushed by Rogers and his oh-so-mighty shield, along with my ribcage. You know what that means? No suit, and mostly no extremis.”

It appeared that the truth was starting to dawn on the king, as he started to pale.

“Let me spell it out for you. I was gravely injured, with no method of communication or transportation. In subzero temperatures.” She leaned even closer, her eyes boring into his. “Do you have any idea how cold it gets in Siberia? Especially at night? So, once again, I’m painting you a picture here, imagine it. Below zero Celsius, a suit that isn’t working, cut off from the outside world, with enough injuries to kill an average person in a few minutes.” She widened her smile. “Do you deny that you knew I was there?”

The king seemed to be struggling with the words as he said, “no. I don’t.”

“I see. So you decided that I was, what, not worth saving? That I could just die alone in the cold, killed by Captain America?”

And just like that, all the remaining doubt and disdain evaporated from the king. Instead, he looked sickened. His eyes were widening gradually as the weight of her words settled in. “It… it was not like that.”

Toni knew she was pushing, knew she was being cruel. The king probably didn’t even realize that Toni had no means of transportation when he left. It probably never occurred to him that Rogers would leave her in such a state. And for good reason.

But she didn’t care. She knew what she wanted.

“Ah please. Admit it, Bagheera, you left me to die, to take off with my would-be killer. And you what? All that? I can forgive it.”

T’Challa looked ready to say something but seemed to think better of it as one of the women by his side put a hand on his shoulder.

“But you see,” Toni continued, unperturbed, “there is something that I’ve only found out two weeks ago myself, a tiny little fact that changes everything. It doesn’t just change how I play the game, it changes the game itself.” She cleared the smile right off her face. “And that tiny little fact has been growing under my heart for the last month or so. The only good thing that Rogers left me with. A child, in fact.”

If the king was pale before, now he was ashen. Even the Dora Milaje were staring at her as if she had just gone and told them she committed mass murder or something. The temperature seemed to have dropped radically, and for a long moment, nobody breathed.

“You are…” the words faltered in T’Challa’s throat, so he tried clearing it. “You are pregnant. You have been pregnant in Siberia.”

“Ding ding ding,” she faux cheered, smiling coldly. “If it wasn’t for extremis, Rogers would have killed me and my child. And you, King T’Challa, left me, left _us_ there to die. If Vision arrived just a few minutes later, the virus would have already burnt through all my reserves, and I, along with my child, would be dead.”

There was a deadly silence in the room, only growing heavier with each passing second.

“I can’t afford to be forgiving anymore,” Toni opened her arms in a dramatic gesture. “I’ve been used as a doormat continuously for the last few years, and I’ve allowed it because I thought it would help me save the world.” She trained her eyes on them. “But it blew up in my face. So, if honour doesn’t make you keep this secret to yourself, then I hope the knowledge that you owe me at least this much will. Rogers can’t, under any circumstances, find out about the child. Am. I. Clear?”

The king stared at her with horror that she would have enjoyed under any other circumstances. But in that moment, she had other priorities.

Even the Dora Milaje seemed to be stricken at the news and were looking at her differently now. Less suspicious, and more sympathetic.

“You are indeed very clear, Miss Stark,” T’Challa breathed finally. “I will not breathe a word of this, to your teammates or otherwise.”

“Nor will us,” one of the Dora Milaje assured, her face as serious as her words. “We will take your secret to the grave, if we have to.”

Toni let out a relieved breath, one she didn’t realize she was holding. “Good. That’s good to hear.” She lifted her wrist to check her watch. “Yeah, do you have any idea how stressful that was? I’m supposed to keep away from stress. I blame you, Bagheera.”

The king actually seemed apologetic at that as he nodded but didn’t say anything.

For the next few minutes or so, an almost amicable silence settled over the room, both sides just absorbing information of what had just transpired. Toni, for one, was very glad to have that over with.

Some may call her paranoid for doing this, and they would be right. But Toni was too far gone to care about things like that.

“For what it’s worth,” the king said suddenly, looking into her eyes, “I am truly sorry for my part in your suffering. Had I known you were in danger, I would not have left you there so carelessly. Captain Rogers assured me you were fine.”

Toni sighed. Of course he did. That stupid soldier probably didn’t even realize he took out most of extremis’ power source along with the suit. “I’m not going to say it’s alright, but I’m willing to let it go. I keep your secret, you keep mine, and we work together as if nothing had happened. Deal?”

The king’s face was unreadable as he turned to look at his bodyguards. To Toni, their faces were indecipherable, but the king must have seen something because he nodded and turned back towards Toni.

“No.”

Toni blinked, unable to contain her absolute surprise. “No?” She repeated his words incredulously.

“No,” the king agreed. “I cannot, in good conscience, agree to such a deal. It is a great shame in my land to leave a comrade to die, and leaving unarmed civilians, especially women or children is even greater. Combining all of those…” he looked away, “I have committed a great atrocity, and it will take a lot of effort on my part to even begin to correct it.”

Well, if that didn’t make Toni uncomfortable than nothing did. This was not her goal. She just wished to make sure that the king kept his mouth shut, and yeah, she knew that meant she had to make him feel guilty, but…

She wanted to object to this, wanted to tell him where to shove his unneeded debt and guilt, but the words got stuck in her throat. She must have looked ridiculous, but the king’s expression didn’t change as he waited for the response.

“You don’t owe me anything besides your silence,” she said finally, staring at him somewhat incredulously. “But I’m not refusing any favours for my child. If you feel like you owe them, then you do.”

The king nodded slowly, before standing. “I will be in touch.”


	3. Killer in the Mirror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No, Toni, don't antagonize the wizards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, did this chapter fight me. Tooth and nail.  
> I apologize if it's below average, but it's been a stressful few days and the chapter just didn't want to come out right. So yeah. I just gave up posted it.  
> On a more cheerful note, thank you all so, so much for the comments and kudos. They made my stressful week so much better. I won't answer them because I'm super anonymous, but I read every single one and they warm my heart.  
> Also, I've gotten my first salty comment too, and boy do I find it amusing. Like, who goes "wow, I have some free time, GOSH DO I want to spend it with something I don't like just so I can complain!"  
> Pure comedy.

> “ _Scathing eyes ask that we be symmetrical, one sided and easily processed. Yet every misshapen spark's unseen beauty is greater than its would be judgement.”_

Two weeks have come and gone after the meeting with King T’Challa, and they were spent in relative calm. Relative, because nothing was ever _truly_ calm for long in Toni’s life, seeing as tranquility was simply not in her dictionary. Which was why she should have suspected that another problem would appear sooner or later.

It appeared sooner.

One would think that being pregnant was an amazing excuse to get out of basically anything unpleasant, especially if one was a billionaire. But no, not in Toni’s case. The universe, it appeared, did not know how to leave her alone to recover. And she needed all the time she could get, especially after the ridiculous amount of changes she had been forced to implement into her life.

She could only be thankful that she wasn’t alone through that particular transition. It was probably the only reason that she could do it in the first place; the never-ending support of those who loved her, and she loved unconditionally in return.

Pepper and Rhodey.

The latter’s overprotecting brother instincts went into overdrive with the news of Toni’s pregnancy, and he insisted to keep an eye on her at all times. It was incredibly annoying, but also somewhat endearing.

But mostly just annoying.

At least it was also surprisingly convenient, since Toni wanted to keep an eye on him as well, if only in a discreet way. She didn’t want to seem overbearing, but she had to make sure he was dealing with the changes in his own life as well as he could be.

So, to appease him (and alright, maybe herself) she agreed to him moving into the tower for the foreseeable future, into one of the empty rooms in the penthouse. There were plenty of those lately.

On the plus side, Toni was already working on braces that would help him walk, and him moving in would make the whole process so much easier.

But for the braces to actually get done, Toni needed time to work on them and that was surprisingly hard to come by. Apparently, she needed to spend most of her time resting. When she complained, she got told that sure, it was still early in the pregnancy, but she should rest as much as she could anyway, just to be sure.

Toni was _pretty_ sure that Rhodey and Pepper were just using this as an excuse to be certain that she wouldn’t get into the same self-destructive tendencies that she did after the Battle of New York.

Sadly, tech that revolutionized support equipment (such as the walking braces) simply couldn’t be created without proper time dedication, no matter what anyone else said. Not even by someone as smart as Toni. And so, they were only coming along half as well as they should have been.

So, all in all, it would have been rather beneficial if unfortunate things, like seriously alarming energy signatures, didn’t happen on Wednesday mornings.

But then again, Wednesdays weren’t lucky like that. They were evil, and nobody could convince Toni otherwise. She had proof.

Wednesdays should be banned.

But then everything bad would just happen on Thursdays, which in turn would make Thor sad. (He was convinced those were named after him.) Toni couldn’t have that; a sad God of Thunder was not a good God of Thunder. And so, she supposed, Wednesdays would just have to stay. Even if they were horrific.

And the Wednesday two weeks after the meeting with T'Challa was no exception.

That was the reason why Toni Stark later found herself in front of a peculiar looking building in Greenwich Village.

It started with her satellites picking up some incredibly alarming readings in Hong Kong. As in, Tesseract level alarming, because whatever source they originated from, it was just as powerful as the readings were back in 2012.

Of course, the source was long gone by the time she could even consider making an appearance, and the local surveillance system told her nothing.

So, she recalibrated one of the sensors in the suit to search for the same signature. Imagine her surprise when she was flying over Bleecker Street, and the sensor went off. And so, two weeks after the original appearance of the source, Toni found herself with a chance of confronting it.

Needless to say, she was terrified. The idea of another Tesseract was bringing back memories she did not want to remember. Ever.

But she couldn’t afford _not_ to check it out. She wasn’t going to alert the council until she knew what was going on, for multiple reasons, one of those being that the Accords were all kinds of fucked up right now as Rogers just had to go and make the situation worse.

But soon enough, that would be solved. She already had a few video calls with Simba, and each time they got one step closer to the accountability that Toni believed in.

This little outing also would have been easier if she had any backup, but with all of the Avengers out of the game, she hardly had anyone to ask. Vision was having one of those days when he was unreachable, and she definitely wasn’t going to ask Peter to come here. No way in hell was she letting that kid anywhere near something as dangerous as this.

Or remotely as dangerous.

Actually, it would be best if he would just keep at helping old ladies across the road and cats off the trees until he was at least ten years older. Maybe twenty.

“Just gonna be in and out,” she told herself calmly, staring accusingly at the door in front of her. Yes, it was hardly the door’s fault that she was in this situation, but that didn’t mean that Toni didn’t resent it anyway. Just because she could.

The fact that she was wearing her brand-new suit was only a mild comfort in a situation such as this. On other hand, the fact that she had Veronica on standby? Now that was a more reassuring. That suit could take on the Hulk. Anything else should be a piece of cake.

Maybe she should have called it to Siberia.

“If there is anything dangerous,” she continued, trying to convince herself, “I can evacuate faster than they can say ‘oh look, it’s Iron Maiden!’”

The calming strategy was definitely not working, but she was also kind of short on time before Rhodey or Pepper realized she was gone, so she couldn’t exactly just stand around.

So, with another deep breath, she slowly lifted her armour-clad hand to knock.

“Here goes nothing.”

But before she could even touch the wood the door snapped open, revealing a large room with a staircase in the middle.

“Huh,” Toni muttered, checking her HUD for life signs nearby, but there were none. “FRIDAY, scan the door, will you? Was that technological, or did the freaky meter just go up?”

Faint blue light emerged from her hand, running over the entrance.

“The readings don’t indicate any built-in mechanism that would automatically open the door, Boss.” FRIDAY answered dutifully, once the scan was complete. “However, the energy readings are off the charts.”

“Yep, I can see that,” Toni nodded, her eyes running over the numbers displayed on the HUD. “And I definitely don’t like it.”

Something was definitely up with this place.

“Maybe you shouldn’t enter?” FRIDAY offered, “Your safety is priority at the moment, Boss.”

“As much as I want to agree, I don’t exactly have a choice,” Toni murmured. “I’ll just have to go in. How bad can it really be?”

FRIDAYS was silent for a moment, before saying, “maybe it’s aliens again.”

“Oh, I think it’s way worse than that, baby girl.” Toni made a face as she stepped over the threshold. “My theory is magic.”

The building itself didn’t look any better from the inside. Still peculiar, still old. It needed some serious renovations, if you asked Toni. Sure, it had the whole ‘old-school and mysterious’ look going for it, but she disliked anything that didn’t at least have some modern lighting system installed in it.

Toni turned around, trying to spot anything that would indicate that this place was used by anyone from the twenty-first century.

“Can I help you?” the question was sudden and totally unexpected. It would have made Toni jump if the suit didn’t make it virtually impossible to do so, unless she turned on the repulsors. But doing that just so she could be outwardly frightened seemed like bit of an overkill, especially since she didn’t even want to be seen as frightened.

She turned only to see two men descending the main staircase leisurely, and neither of them seemed inclined to be shouting ‘Hey look, it’s Iron Maiden!’ anytime soon.

One of them was distinctly Asian and Unimpressed, while the other had some seriously awesome facial hair. Both were wearing weird looking garbs that had a distinct cultist vibe, which only helped to strengthen Toni’s initial assumptions based on the readings. Magicians.

Funnily enough though the bearded guy even had a bright red cape on his shoulders. Like, who did he think he was, Thor?

“Probably, yes.” She answered carefully, with half her attention on the HUD to double and triple check that all systems - weapon or otherwise - were functional. “Firstly, who the fuck are you?”

The question didn’t seem to be winning her any favours, judging by their faces. Oh well.

“You are the one who walked into our home,” Mr. Cape answered, joining his friend in the Unimpressed department. “Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?”

The look Toni was giving them was so spectacular, she had half a mind to lift her faceplate just so she could show them.

“You… do realize I’m wearing the Iron Maiden armour, right?” she asked incredulously, after an intentionally long stretch of silence. “Who do you think I am? Tom Cruise?” Then, after a brief moment of consideration, she raised a hand and added, “don’t actually answer that.”

The Asian man snorted slightly.

“It’s the principle of the matter,” Mr. Cape insisted. “And you definitely can’t be Tom Cruise. I’ve met him once before. And he introduced himself.”

Toni did not deem that with an answer.

After a minute of silent stare down - which wasn’t exactly a stare down since her faceplate was still hiding her face – Mr. Cape sighed and rolled his eyes. 

“I am Doctor Stephen Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts, Protector of the New York Sanctum and recently Sorcerer Supreme,” he said, gesturing at himself. Then, after waiting a moment, probably to let all the information sink in, he pointed at the other guy, “And that’s Wong.”

“Also a Master of the Mystic Arts,” the Asian man, Wong, added, then looked pointedly at Strange. “For much longer than you, I might add.”

Toni glowered at them for a long moment, before snapping up her faceplate. “So, wizards?”

“No,” they replied in unison, with surprising forcefulness.

Yep, that was probably a sore spot.

“We are sorcerers,” Strange added insistently.

Toni hummed, sauntering closer, but still keeping enough distance to be safe. Well, as safe as you can be when you are dealing with wizards.

“And is this your witch hut or something?” she wondered, “Seriously, I haven’t seen a place this underequipped since Rogers convinced me to go to church with him.”

“This is the New York Sanctum,” Strange answered exasperatedly, “a _very_ important place, for sorcerers and otherwise.”

“You should not disrespect it,” Wong added, his face serious. “It’s one of the pillars protecting the world. Surely, as an Avenger, you can understand the weight of that.”

Toni hummed and nodded. “A wizard HQ, got it. And what is it exactly that you guys do, besides making balloon animals?”

Strange was not impressed by her humour in the least. “Protecting your reality, douchebag.”

“Woah, dramatic.” Toni snorted. “A man after my own heart.”

That rewarded her another snort from Wong, surprisingly. Strange turned to stare at his friend(?) incredulously, but he just shrugged. “What? She is right. You _are_ dramatic.”

Toni chuckled, revelling in the awkward silence that followed.

“That is not relevant right now,” Strange said finally, shaking his head. “What _is_ relevant is how you” he turned back towards Toni, “found us. And what do you want from us.”

He was eyeing her warily, and Toni would have had to be blind not to notice the subtle threat in his tone. Which was fair. If Toni was part of a (probably) secret society of reality protecting wizard sorcerers, she would feel threatened by her being here too.

She was, after all, a woman of science _and_ she had enough credibility that if she randomly started screaming about wizards in Times square, people would probably believe her.

“I found you because your energy emission is hardly subtle,” Toni offered, grinning. “You guys might as well have started to broadcast ‘we are doing magic, look at us!’ on all available frequencies in Hong Kong.”

The two men turned towards each other, Strange’s hand wondering over to his weird looking necklace. He didn’t even seem to notice the movement, but Wong did, and he frowned and shook his head.

“As for what I’m going to do about it,” Toni continued, filing that information away for later, “first I’m going to make sure what kind of wizards you are.”

“Sorcerers.”

“Yeah, that. So, Harry Potter or Voldemort?”

They both frowned, and Strange stared at her like she was an idiot. To be fair, he wasn’t exactly wrong.

When she got no answer, she considered that maybe they didn’t understand the point of the question. “You know, good guys or bad guys?” she explained impatiently, “Like, Gandalf or Saruman?” Still no answer. Okay then, maybe lack of understanding wasn’t the problem. “Merlin or Morgana?”

To her surprise, that actually garnered a reaction.

“That’s actually pretty close,” Wong said thoughtfully.

“And only on the third try,” Strange agreed sarcastically, before he looked at Toni. “And we are, as you so eloquently put it, the good guys.”

“Huh. Merlin then.” Toni nodded to herself. After a brief moment of consideration, she continued with, “You’ve got proof of that, right? Cuz’ for all I know, I turn around and you blow up New York too.”

The two sorcerers exchanged glances again.

The cape fluttered.

“Isn’t the fact we haven’t thrown you out for acting like an ass proof enough?” Strange asked dryly.

“Not really, no.”

She could actually pinpoint the moment that Strange's patience ran out.

“Would it actually physically hurt you to show some respect?” he asked coldly, stepping closer.

“Probably, yeah,” Toni sniffed, and not wanting to back down from the challenge, stepped closer as well. “So, you got proof or not?”

“The thing is,” Strange said in a measured tone, taking another step, “this is way above your pay grade.”

“I am a genius billionaire philanthropist,” Toni replied, putting emphasis on the word ‘billionaire’. “And I save the world on a yearly basis.” Another step. “ _Nothing_ is above _my_ paygrade.”

Strange huffed. “Or maybe you are just too _self-centred_ to realize otherwise.”

That made Toni scoff and open her arms dramatically. “Why is it that people always put my ego behind every problem? Isn’t that idea kind of self-fulfilling?”

That actually made Strange stop for a moment. “I don’t think that’s how it works. And you are literally wearing an armour that screams ‘look at me, I’m the best.’

“Well, I am the best,” Toni retorted without betting an eyelash. “And I don’t want to hear any judgement from a guy who wears a cape. Did you not watch the Incredibles?”

“It’s a cloak,” Strange deadpanned, “And I wouldn’t disrespect it like that. It’s a fickle thing.”

As if to prove its master right, the cape-cloak fluttered again, then scrunched itself up in a way that made it look… insulted? Toni wasn’t sure if it was actually sentient, or the wizard was trying to fool her, but she didn’t deem finding that out priority in that moment.

“That’s… actually kind of cool,” she admitted, “but so not the point.”

Strange narrowed his eyes at her. “Yes, because you've been staying on the point throughout this whole conversation.”

“The _point_ is” Toni drawled, “that I don’t trust you, Mister Wizard, and you are not giving me any reason to start to.”

“Actually, it’s Doctor.” Then, after a moment where a weird, haunted look entered his eyes, he added, “The honorific, I mean.”

Toni smirked. “It is, but I don’t usually care if people address me by it or not.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Oh, I know what you meant.”

“You are insufferable.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

“It wasn’t one.”

Toni had an answer on the tip of her tongue, but her watch buzzed in time for her to realize what was happening. She got carried away, majorly, and was already way too fired up to be logical. And while for her it was a fun banter; she was almost sure that the threat to his home made it personal for Strange.

He meant business; she could see it his eyes. And since he was a sorcerer, a ‘Master of the Mystic Arts’ or whatever, he might actually be someone who could harm not just her, but the baby as well. Sure, the pregnancy survived the stress of the Civil War and the physical assault of Rogers _and_ the following recovery, but she didn’t know shit about magic. Which made it dangerous.

A fire she couldn’t afford to play with, no matter how much she wanted to.

Something did create that energy burst.

She stepped back, getting out of Strange’s personal space that she didn’t even realize she entered. “Look, I don’t want to fight,” she said, raising her hands, placating. “Just talk.”

Strange blinked at her with clear confusion at the sudden change in attitude. “Really? Because that is not the impression I’m getting.”

“Yeah, I know. Fun banter, right?” She grinned at him. “Doesn’t mean I want to fight, though.” She shrugged. “Actually, I’m all for talking. I’m a fan, really.”

“Oh?” Strange raised an eyebrow. “I thought the Avengers were all hit first, ask questions later. That’s certainly the picture you and your boyfriend painted when you trashed an airport. Or was that you talking?”

Wow, low blow. Toni felt the grin melt off her face, and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Firstly, it’s actually ex-boyfriend. And secondly, fuck you, wizard, at least I’m not calling for an another invasion from outer space with ridiculously powerful energy signatures.”

And oops, she was supposed to be cooling the mood.

“You know,” Strange drawled “I’m getting the feeling you do want to fight.”

The silence that followed was so heavy, it felt suffocating. Toni could practically feel the electricity between herself and Strange, and for a moment she was actually worried that her suit might have malfunctioned.

“Oh, for the sake of Vishanti!” Wong snapped suddenly, stepping between them. “How about you both calm down and talk like the civilised humans you are?” He shook his head. “And Strange, you will not, under any circumstances, fight with Stark. Am I clear?”

Strange looked ready to protest, but Wong was faster. “Use your training, and don’t be an idiot. Don’t tell me you haven’t detected anything in her lifeforce. Can’t you feel it?”

“Boss,” FRIDAY said in the earpiece that activated the moment Toni lifted the faceplate, “the energy readings have picked up around Strange. He is doing something.”

And that was when Toni realized she had fucked up, like truly fucked up, and it was probably way too late to run. Because that sounded like actual wizard bullshit, and until now Toni kind of ignored that little option being real.

She really shouldn’t have.

Damn her and her scientifically inclined mind, and especially damn her arrogance for thinking she could handle anything.

Huh. Maybe it did all come down to her ego?

Nah.

“Wait just a minute!” She objected loudly, “I am incredibly against being mojoed, like, super against. So don’t even think about it. I will sue, you know.”

She was ignored completely.

“It _is_ weird,” Strange noted with a peculiar look on his face. “But I don’t…” he frowned “I can’t tell why.”

Wong hummed, nodding thoughtfully. “I suppose that’s not surprising. This is hardly something you can practice while fighting Dormammu. Can you describe what you are detecting?”

Toni knew she should either run or shoot both of them dead. And she could. Sorcerers or not, they definitely weren’t faster than light. And she had _lasers_.

But she could hardly kill unarmed people, hell she couldn’t even get herself to kill (or maim) Rogers and Barnes and they definitely weren’t unarmed. Well, except for Barnes near the end of the fight.

Yes, she had been stupid and arrogant, thinking she could fight two super soldiers head on with using barely any of her arsenal, just so she wouldn’t seriously harm them.

Look how that turned out.

But still, she couldn’t just shoot people. She couldn’t. That would be against everything she believed in. So, she should probably run. Maybe she still had time to get away before they actually made sure they were right.

Yep, she should definitely run.

But she just couldn’t move. It was as if her whole body was frozen in place. She couldn’t move, could hardly breathe. And so, she just stood and stared, her heart beating in her throat as her watch buzzed relentlessly.

“Boss, shall I blast them?” FRIDAY asked suddenly, her voice weirdly loud in her earpiece, “Or do we evacuate? Boss?”

Toni could not answer.

“It’s like she isn’t alone,” Strange said thoughtfully, “like she is possessed, but not quite. It doesn’t feel like a full other life force, just a…”

His eyes widened, and he took a step back. “She’s pregnant?” He asked Wong, before he turned back towards her. “You are pregnant?”

Okay, too late to run now.

Toni stared at the two of them, a thousand options swirling in her head. Do I attack? Do I run? Do I blackmail? Threaten? Deny? What do I do?

Slowly, she stepped backwards, FRIDAY’s frantic questions finally reaching her ear. Poor AI, bless her artificial heart, had been trying to get Toni to answer all this time, to tell her what to do.

“If you even think about telling this to anyone,” Toni said slowly, “I can and _will_ destroy you.”

Threats were usually more efficient when one’s voice didn’t waver while they delivered them. It also didn’t help that her eyes probably told the sorcerers everything about how she was feeling.

She should not have opened that faceplate.

Strange, as if he was trying not to scare a skittish animal, raised his hands, palms outwards, slowly. “We are not going to hurt you.”

Toni bit back a snarky response.

“And we certainly aren’t going to tell anyone,” Wong added, his face serious. “Even if we wanted to, we don’t belong to any social circles that would be interested.”

“I… I know that,” Toni snapped finally, shaking her head. “You look like hobos. But that isn’t the problem. You weren’t supposed to find out in any capacity.” She knew her voice probably sounded a bit whiny, but she was close to a nervous breakdown, so perhaps that was understandable. She had little to no options. She could either try to kill the wizards, or she ran, neither of which was a good idea. Or she could try to do damage control, which always sucked and might just end up ruining things more.

“That ship sailed the moment you stepped into the home of Sorcerers,” Wong offered calmly. “But I assure you, we are no danger to you, or the child you carry.”

Yeah, well. Toni was not reassured.

“How about some tea?” Strange suggested suddenly. “We sit down, we talk, we drink some tea, and I convince you that we the good guys.”

After a brief moment of consideration, Toni snapped the faceplate down. It tensed the sorcerers, but nobody moved.

“What do you think, FRIDAY?” She questioned inside the helmet.

“They don’t seem to be lying, Boss. Their body language doesn’t indicate any hostile intentions.”

Several readings flashed on the HUD, showing heartrate, body temperature, and energy signals.

Well, Toni already fucked up enough so that there was no other option but go forward at this point, so she might as well roll with it. Making a decision, she opened the armour in the front so she could step out. “Keep it in Sentry mode, will you FRIDAY?”

As if in answer, the armour closed right back up behind her, eyes flashing blue.

“Well? Show me the way then, Jaffar.”

“Right then,” Strange nodded without a moment of hesitation. “Follow me please.”

If Strange or Wong was bothered by the fact that the suit hovered over them as they made their way upstairs, they didn’t show it. They led her into a smaller room with many windows and a cute little table next to wall.

“I’ll be in the library,” Wong said. “Stephen, I trust you can handle this.”

“Of course I can,” Strange agreed. “I’ve handled Dormammu.”

And there was that name again. Dormammu. Toni didn't know who or what that was, so she filed the information away so she could ask about it later.

There were a lot of questions building up.

They sat down at the table, and with a wave of his hand, Strange summoned two cups of steaming hot tea. Toni jumped in place at the blatant display of magic.

Either they know some very neat street magician tricks, or they truly were sorcerers.

“So,” the wizard started once they got settled, “I suppose you want proof that I am not going to go and” he made a face “blow up New York.

Toni frowned. Whenever people found out about her pregnancy, it was always as if a switch had been flipped. Suddenly, she was not an arrogant, annoying, unwanted billionaire, but she was someone to protect and placate, to be kept happy.

It was disorienting, not to be fought at every turn.

“Sure,” she agreed, taking the cup into her hands. “That would be ideal.”

She sniffed the tea, and poked at the cup, before holding it out in front of the suit. FRIDAY scanned it, before assuring Toni that it was fine to drink.

Strange watched the proceedings curiously, but as soon as their eyes met again, he started talking. “I don't exactly wish to reveal any of our secrets yet,” he said, “So the easiest solution would be you looking me up on the internet.”

Well, that was definitely not what Toni was expecting, but it was intriguing enough for her to be immediately interested. Pulling out her glasses, she put them on and put away her earpiece, redirecting her AI to the glasses. “You heard the wizard, FRIDAY. Go up and dig down, baby girl. And don’t leave out any juicy details.”

“I would never, Boss,” the AI agreed, her voice on the outer speakers of the glasses, so Strange could hear her too. His face was priceless. “But I looked him up as soon as he introduced himself. Do you mind if I just share that, or do you require me to do it again?”

“You never disappoint me.” Toni smirked. “I know a few people who could learn from you. Hit me up then.”

“Doctor Stephen Strange” FRIDAY started, “is a certified genius with photographic memory. He used to be a successful neurosurgeon, working in the New York Metro-general Hospital. He dropped off the map after he suffered a car accident that ruined his hands, and consequently, his career as a surgeon.”

Toni felt something cold settle in her gut, and her eyes wondered over the sorcerer’s hands. Most of the damage was hidden behind fingerless gloves, but she could still see the scars lining the fingers, and there was subtle tremble present that was impossible to miss once she knew to look for it.

Strange, on his part, didn’t seem offended by her attention, and instead of hiding his scars from view, he held his right hand up so she could see it better.

Toni blinked in shock at the blatant display of trust.

“I‘ve found proof of his work as a doctor,” FRIDAY continued, “and I’ve confirmed his identity by analysing his body structure, his face characteristics and his voice. It checks out.”

“That’s throughout,” Strange noted, though his eyes showed amusement.

“Well of course, Doctor,” FRIDAY agreed politely. “Boss’s safety is my first and foremost priority.”

Toni took a sip of her tea and was shocked at how good it tasted. Just the right temperature, with the exactly right amount of sweetness. If anyone else had given her this cup, she would have been freaked out. Now, she just accepted it as magic.

“Did you end up as a sorcerer after the accident?” she asked curiously, trying to ignore the parallels that her mind already made.

“Yes.” His eyes wondered over to his hands, and something akin to grief appeared on his face. “When my hands got ruined, I thought my life was over. Everything I’ve worked for, gone. I’ve spent all my money trying to find a way to fix them.”

Toni winced. “But you couldn’t.”

“No,” he agreed. “But when medicine failed, I tried to find other methods. Which is how I found myself in Nepal, and consequently, here as a Master of the Mystic Arts.”

“You don’t regret it, then?”

“I don’t. It made me who I am today.” After brief consideration, he added, “I wasn’t a good person before my accident. I was arrogant and self-centred.”

Toni shivered. Yep, parallels. Her hands travelled up to the arc reactor.

“They are reminder then? Of who you had been, and you can never be again?”

“That’s one way to put it, yes,” he nodded. “But the point is, I used to be, and still am, a doctor. I’ve taken an oath to do no harm, and I still abide by that rule, sorcerer or not. I can understand if you don’t trust sorcerers just yet, but I’m hoping you can trust me just enough not to go running to the Accords council.”

Toni hummed thoughtfully.

Strange’s words didn’t exactly prove anything, but it was a definitely a good start. FRIDAY would have alerted her immediately if she thought that Strange was lying, and she didn’t.

But just because they were good people, that didn’t necessary mean they could be trusted with power. Only this was magic, which was hardly her jurisdiction. But it was hardly the Council’s either, and God help the world if Ross got a wind of this. So, she just had to take a leap of faith and accept that these guys knew what they were doing. They certainly had that weird wise sorcerer vibe, like Gandalf.

“So, how magic are you exactly?” she asked after a moment, unable to hide her curiosity any longer. “The way you talk about it, you have some serious mojo going on.”

“I can’t answer that yet,” Strange said after a bit of hesitation, “Unless I know you won’t tell anything about us to anyone.”

Toni hummed again. She could understand that reasoning, but that didn’t change the fact that these guys possessed something equal in power to the Tesseract. She couldn’t just let that go.

“Does it have anything to do with the weird necklace you are wearing?”

Strange’s face didn’t change as he answered “maybe.”

“Thought so,” Toni made a face. “That was what led me here, after all.”

Strange remained silent.

“If I promise not to tell on you” she leaned closer “will it count for anything?”

Strange seemed to be considering that for a moment, before shaking his head. “No. I don’t think that’s a risk I can take. Not after what you have gone through because of the Accords. And what you’ve lost. You have to believe in them to do that.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. But he wasn’t right either.

“Yes but no,” Toni grimaced. “I believe in what the Accords could be, not what they are right now. But I was willing to compromise. And it could have ended well, but Rogers just had to go and make everything go” she mimicked an explosion with her hands “boom. And now I’m left here with the fucked up Accords and a baby, alone to face the storm.”

“Do you regret it?” Strange asked curiously. “Not standing with Captain America?”

Toni snorted. “No. A 117 countries asking us for accountability isn’t something we can just turn our back on. If we ignore the people who we are supposed to be protecting, then what does that make us if not hypocrites? We can’t afford to trust only our judgement, the world doesn’t work like that, it never has. _It’s not about us_ , it’s about the people we stand for.”

Strange looked at her with a peculiar look on his face, but before he could say anything, her glasses chimed, displaying an incoming call from King T’Challa.

“Do you mind if I take this?” Toni asked, frowning. “It’s kind of important. I can’t exactly leave the King of Wakanda on voicemail.”

Strange nodded but Toni had already accepted the call, FRIDAY automatically changing the speakers to the inwards option so only Toni would hear the King’s part of the conversation.

“What’s up, kitty cat?” she greeted him cheerfully. She really had no idea what the king could want that was urgent enough to call her without forward notice. “What can I help you with today? Did you lose your ball of yarn? I know some real good tailors, I can hit you up if you want. Or there is this huge one in Kansas, I bet you’d love it.”

The King on the other end chuckled. “Good morning to you too, Miss Stark. It is morning there, right?”

“Bright and early,” she agreed. “I’m guessing no to the yarn then? Wow, you drive a hard bargain. Maybe some catfood instead? Or do you need a new scratching post?”

The King chuckled once more but there was no humour in his voice when he spoke again. “No, I’m afraid it’s about something else. I have some troubling news.”

Toni knew her face darkened, but she couldn’t help it. She really, really hated bad news. “And I’m guessing it concerns me, and maybe even your hypothetical guests.”

“I am afraid so,” T’Challa admitted. “It’s about a letter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, I don't own the MCU.  
> The quote at the beginning is still from RWBY.
> 
> Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, good or bad.  
> (Constructive criticism is not a problem, you can't hurt my feelings so fire away.)


	4. Beyond the sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Talking. Lots of talking.  
> That's basically it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand here I go, updating in the middle of the night again. Yay. (I'm tired.)  
> I might edit it in the morning (afternoon, maybe, I don't do mornings), so if you've got any complaints before I do, don't be afraid to tell them. I want to make the chapter better.
> 
> Thank you so much for all the comments on the last chapter, by the way. They kept my spirit up in the dark times of the uni exams.

> “ _Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no metrics or form of measure. And all of it… irreplaceable._ ”

For a solid minute, Toni could not believe the words she was hearing. Then, she was blinking so fast that she was almost surprised her eyes didn’t catch on fire from the friction.

“Seriously? Rogers and his crew want to send me a letter? _A letter_?” She asked, just to be sure. “They do… realize they broke the law, abandoned the world to fend for itself, and left me for dead _,_ right? What does he expect a letter to do?”

She waited, hoping T’Challa would just come out and say no, that was just a joke. Feline humour or something. But the silence at the other end of the line told her more than a thousand words could have.

With a tired sigh, Toni rubbed her temples. “You are not kidding, are you?”

“I am afraid not,” the King agreed regretfully.

Toni shook her head incredulously, her eyes wandering over to Strange. The wizard was reading a book, pretending not to be listening, but there was a slight frown on his face. Toni doubted that was caused by his reading material.

The book he was reading looked to be one of those ancient tomes that one would expect to see in the hands of a wizard. Probably a spellbook, or maybe one of those bizarre potion recipe books. Witches had those in the cartoons all the time, right? Sorcerer, witch, wizard, all sounded the same to Toni anyway.

She could easily imagine Strange standing over a cauldron, cackling madly as he threw froglegs and butterfly wings into some glowing and bubbling green liquid, while his cloak fluttered behind him.

He looked up at her, but besides the frown, his face was unreadable.

Toni really hoped he couldn’t read minds.

“It’s like he is deliberately trying to insult me further,” Toni said finally, still looking into Strange’s eyes, before turning away and frowning at the information that FRIDAY displayed on the glasses. Her heartbeat seemed to be rising steadily.

“I’m sure that is not his intention,” the King tried to assure her, but Toni scoffed, but bit back the sarcastic ‘ _yeah, right’._

“And what’s his big idea? Just put it in the mail?” She grimaced. “If so, I hope he is planning to add ‘Wanted criminal’ under the sender. Although his name means the same thing nowadays, so no point in that.”

Strange snorted slightly in the background.

“You are not exactly wrong.” T’Challa answered. “About the mail, not the other thing. I do not think he plans to write that one the envelope. But as I understand, he indeed originally meant to mail it to you, but he regretfully happened upon my sister and I as we were discussing my plans of visiting you.”

“And let me guess, he wanted you to bring it to me instead,” Toni rolled her eyes. Then, the full meaning of the sentence sank in. “Wait, you planned on visiting me? What’s the occasion?”

The King hesitated before answering. “It was meant to be a surprise. I’ve cleared it with Miss Potts, and she agreed I could visit you tomorrow.”

Toni blinked, shocked. Thank heavens the King couldn’t see her gobsmacked expression. “A surprise visit?”

Why on Earth would the King of Wakanda do such a thing?

“Yes,” the King answered, unperturbed. “But it would have been cruel to show up with a letter from Mr. Rogers without warning you first. So, I decided to ask you whether I should bring it with me at all.”

Toni frowned. If she said no, the King’s honour would probably force him to say no to Rogers, and not just get rid of the letter afterwards. Which would mean that Rogers would just keep pestering the King. Or worse, send it by mail.

Ugh. Anything but that, please. It usually meant people handing her things, even when she kept telling them she did NOT like to be handed things. How hard of a concept was that to understand, people?

“Just bring it with you,” she told him with faux cheerfulness, “I never refuse a good target practice. And I’ve got a brand new repulsor I’m just itching to try out.”

T’Challa seemed to buy it, as he chuckled. “Very well then. I shall see you tomorrow, Miss Stark.”

“I’ll be waiting, Your Meowjesty.”

They ended the call, and Toni leaned back in the chair, sighing tiredly. “Fucking Rogers.”

“Let me guess. Rough breakup?” Strange asked, looking up from his book and raising an eyebrow.

“You could say that,” Toni agreed. “The worst, actually.”

Strange hummed. “I used to have a girlfriend while I worked at the hospital. She named her rule of no dating colleagues after me.”

He said it all with such an expressionless face that Toni couldn’t help but chuckle. “You must have been a real delight then.”

“You have no idea,” Strange agreed. “I was a giant jerk. Very self-centred.”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, _my ex_ is charged with treason,” Toni shrugged. “Especially since that’s the least of my problems with him.”

Strange looked somewhat intrigued at that. “There is more?”

There was something that felt almost like pain then, right in Toni’s chest, threading around her heart. She could feel it burn and twist, but she didn’t give it time to fester. She couldn’t.

There was no poison quite as powerful as weakness. Give in to it once, and then you are gone. It tempts you and it beckons you, and then it overtakes you to never again let you go.

“Oh sweetheart, you have no idea,” she agreed with all the cheerfulness she could muster, drinking the remnants of her tea.

And wow, what an amazing tea it was. If for nothing else, she would definitely come back for another round of that delicious tea. And she didn’t even _like_ tea.

Then the cup refilled itself, because of fucking course it did. Toni gaped at it, then looked up at Strange, who looked as impassive as ever.

“He doesn’t know about the child, I presume?” He asked.

That got her attention back from the cup real quick, because that was the real question, wasn’t it? It defined so many things. Maybe, if Steve knew, he would have decided differently. He would have acted differently.

Maybe, if he found out, he would come back willingly, signing the Accords. Maybe he would say sorry, maybe he would regret his actions.

Maybe it would make him realize that making compromises is sometimes necessary.

…But those maybes weren’t something Toni could build her hopes upon. Not anymore, not ever again.

“Nope,” Toni shrugged. “And if it’s up to me, he’ll never find out. Nor will anyone else for a long, long time.”

“That’s going to be a tough secret to keep.”

Toni made a face. “Believe me, I know.”

A new message popped up on her glasses, and she winced. Pepper seemed to have finally noticed that Toni sneaked out, and the CEO did _not_ seem happy.

“Hate to cut this short,” she said, standing up, “but it appears I’ve been made. And in a lot of trouble.”

Seeing Strange’s curious expression, she added, “Overprotective friends, acting as if I didn’t have the most high-tech suit in the world protecting me. On the bright side, you probably don’t have to worry about me tattling.” She grimaced. “Pepper is totally going to lock me in a room for the next six months if she finds out what I’ve been doing. And she always finds out.”

If she cringed a little at that, well, nobody can blame her.

The wizard looked extremely unimpressed as leaned back in his chair and closed his book. “Stark. Please tell me you didn’t come here without anyone knowing where you went.”

“That depends,” Toni replied immediately. “Are you planning to murder me? Because in that case, FRIDAY will definitely tell everyone where I was. And I won’t go quietly. I’ve got Hulkbuster on standby and believe me when I tell you she can be nasty. Packs a punch, gave the Hulk sweet dreams. He could tell you all about it.”

The skin around Strange’s eyes crinkled as he smiled. “Good thing that it isn’t my intention to kill you, then. But it could have been.” His smile disappear. “It was irresponsible to come here without any backup.”

The ‘ _you are pregnant, after all’_ went unspoken, but Toni heard it all the same.

“Yeah well,” she rolled her eyes, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the boyband’s out of commission. I don’t exactly keep brand new members in my closet to just pull out when I need them.”

Silence followed her statement, heavy and unpleasant. Strange looked at her with a thoughtful expression on his face, and Toni knew that look. She had the exact same look when she had an idea that she was sure would end in disaster, but she would always go for it anyway.

A moment later she was proved right, as Strange waved his hand to summon a piece of paper. It appeared in front of Toni, landing in her lap. She picked it up warily, before turning it around to find a phone number scribbled down on it.

“If you ever need any backup, call me.” His face was serious as he talked, and Toni could tell he meant every word. “I’d rather you didn’t put yourself in unnecessary danger.”

Toni didn’t know whether to frown or sigh, because there it was again. That readiness to be on her side. To support her without conditions. She doubted the super-secret wizard cult liked to just offer their services to outsiders, and yet, Strange offered to help her.

Her feelings were so mixed about it, even she couldn’t make heads or tails of them. On one side, it was extremely nice and convenient.

And yet.

It was just annoying. She didn’t want people to stand behind her for being a mother, she wanted them to do it because she was Toni Stark. Because she was worth to stand behind.

But for now, she would take what she could get. For the baby.

She flicked away the paper in a nonchalant manner. FRIDAY had already saved the number under the moniker ‘Merlin’, and even if she didn’t, Toni would remember it.

“I don’t think you realize what you just signed up for,” she grinned. “I’ve never had a chance to bother wizards before, you know.”

“Sorcerers,” Strange corrected, but he seemed amused. “And I think I’ll manage somehow.”

Her grin widened. “What is that saying? Famous last words?”

“Not really,” Strange smirked back. “I’ve had those before, a few thousand times actually, and I’m quite sure I’ve never said that sentence.”

For a moment, Toni had no idea how to answer. She tried to understand what Strange was saying, to make sense of it. She failed.

“I’m just going to assume that is some weird sorcerer thing,” she said cheerfully, “like those colourful handkerchiefs. Or the bunnies in the hat.” She blinked at him innocently. “ _Do you_ have a hat?”

Strange scoffed. “No. But just for the record, if I did, I would look amazing in it.”

Yeah, okay, he probably would.

“No doubt,” Toni winked, standing up. “You’d rock the whole old-school magician look.”

Strange stood as well, his cloak fluttering around him in an overly dramatic manner, as if to prove a point. And it really did, because that cloak was simply fabulous.

They stared at each other for a moment in silence, before Strange cleared his throat. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Stark.”

“Likewise, Merlin.” She gave him another grin. “And don’t even think about ignoring my calls.”

She was off before he could answer, a strange feeling of contentment settling in her chest.

-

When Toni got back to the penthouse, Rhodey was waiting for her, sitting in his wheelchair and looking incredibly unimpressed. Like, ‘Toni did you seriously have to sleep with that guy? And on the sofa?’ unimpressed, or ‘Toni, did you really have to be drunk during that test? And then correct the teacher?’ unimpressed. Ah, the good college days. Honestly, she didn’t think she’d ever see that look again.

Oh boy, was she wrong.

She grinned at him cheerfully, sauntering up to the fridge and taking out a smoothie. “You look like someone kicked your puppy. I didn’t kick your puppy, right?” she took a sip, and grimaced at the disgusting taste. “Do you want a puppy, by the way? We could totally get you one.”

One look at the Colonel told her he was not, in fact, in a joking mood. And probably didn’t want a puppy, although the jury was still out on that one. His ‘I’m angry at you but I totally want a puppy,’ and his ‘I’m angry at you, and I really don’t need a puppy, don’t try to steer the conversation away,’ faces were really similar.

“Toni, I thought we agreed you’d be more responsible,” Rhodey said in a tired voice. “Considering it’s not just about you anymore.”

Yep, that was the no puppy face. And wow, coming on full force with the guilt trip, right off the bat. Toni was sort of impressed.

She rolled her eyes in an attempt to play it off. “Well, I don’t know if you’ve realized, but we are a little short on Avengers. I can’t exactly afford to be out of commission. But I’m seriously considering in investing in a closet for new members now.”

Rhodey winced and looked away, his face crumbling, and Toni kicked herself internally at her own stupidity. Good job, really, congratulations. Your best friend, only trying to look out for you, and here you go hurting him even more, because of course he would blame himself for not being able to help out.

The fact that she meant the rogues abandoning her and Vision being off the map, and not Rhodey being injured, didn’t excuse her behaviour. Not thinking before talking was something she was surprisingly great at, for being a genius.

With a remorseful expression, she put down the smoothieand walked up to her friend, kneeling in front of his wheelchair.

“Look,” she said tiredly, “Honeybear, I swear I’m doing everything I can to stay safe. You have to trust me, alright?”

She knew all her feelings were written all over her face, especially her eyes, and she just hoped Rhodey would see the honesty in them.

He stared at her, his expression losing just a little bit of its harshness before he nodded slowly. “I know, Tones. I’m just worried about you. This is a big change, and I don’t think you are dealing.”

Toni blinked at him, confused. “Of course I’m dealing. I even got rid of the coffee machine.” She gestured behind herself, to the spot where the appliance used to be. “I’m dealing like a champ.”

“Yeah, I know that,” Rhodey said, but he was shaking his head. “Just… promise me if you ever need help, with anything, you’ll come to me.” He grabbed her arm with unexpected strength, making her startle slightly. His eyes were serious, glaring into hers as if he was trying to look right into her soul. “Promise me.”

And wow, Pepper and Rhodey were really taking pages from the same book, weren’t they? Was it some kind of secret notebook? A manual on ‘How to deal with Toni Stark’? If so, it must have been digital, since she would have already noticed a book that size around the tower.

But Rhodey was staring at her with that earnest expression, the one that made Toni feel like shit for not answering. But the fact was, she didn’t know what to say. How could she promise this? Rhodey had his own problems now, and he was barely handling those. How could she put more on him?

She wanted to protect him just as much as he wished to protect her.

“Is this about Rogers?” she asked finally, tearing her eyes away. “Cuz’ I promised Pepper that I won’t be running back to him anymore, and I…”

“No, no, it’s not about him,” Rhodey cut in, shaking his head. “He is a dickhead, yes, but I’m not worried about you running back to him. I’m worried because he _left._ ” The way he said that word shot a pang right through Toni’s chest. “And we both know how you deal with people leaving. And especially now…” he blinked, breathing out slowly. “I just need you to be safe and protected.”

“And I am,” she insisted, grasping his hand and fighting back the treacherous feelings that were threatening to rise. “I promise.”

Rhodey stared at her for a long time, eyes hard and scrutinizing, before nodding slowly. “Good. That’s… that’s good.”

Toni offered him a faint smile, before standing back up, suddenly feeling an overwhelmingly tired. She made her way back to her smoothie, grabbing it with unsteady hands.

“FRIDAY, run a check on me, will you?” She asked blearily, shrugging when Rhodey looked at her questioningly.

“You appear to be in perfect health, Boss,” the AI answered after a moment. “But maybe you should lie down a bit? You’ve had a long morning.”

“Nah. I’ve got stuff to do,” Toni smiled, but it only came out pretty half-hearted. Then, her eyes met Rhodey’s, and she hastily added, “but I promise I’ll take a nap if I feel like I really need to.”

The Colonel stared at her with narrowed eyes for a moment longer, before sighing and looking up at the ceiling. “FRIDAY, is Baby Health Protocol still active?”

“Yes, Colonel Rhodes,” FRIDAY replied dutifully, “You have no reason to worry, I’m keeping an eye on Boss.”

Toni snorted, but didn’t comment. As if she would turn it off. She didn’t regret writing that protocol one bit. Normally, she would have cringed at the idea of Pepper and Rhodey keeping an eye on her and her health, mostly because it would be unhealthy for those two, to know the shit she was usually up to. They would _not_ be happy.

And the amount of pestering she would receive, that would be unprecedented. Didn’t even bear thinking about. Just the thought sent a shiver down her spine.

But this situation was different, and the fact that her friends were making sure she wasn’t going to fuck up just made her feel safe and reassured instead of angry and unimpressed. She needed all the help she could get, to get this right. Because she wanted to. More than she had ever wanted anything.

She pushed back the hurt threatening to choke her up, banished the dark thoughts to the deepest confines of her mind.

She had to be strong.

Starks are made of iron.

‘Stark _men_ are made of iron,’ a traitorous little voice whispered in her mind. ‘Dad only ever said that to remind you how weak you are.’

She banished that thought too.

-

It was not much later when she made her way down to her labs and pulled up the schematic she’d been working on. The prosthetic was coming along nicely, although she’d hit a wall last night. Genius she was, medical professional she was not.

“FRI, did any of the docs answer the emails?” she asked spinning in her chair slowly as she pulled up a hologram of the half-done model.

“A few did, but only one of them seems viable. Do you wish to see all the others as well?”

“Nah, just hit me up with the good one,” Toni said, leaning forward to read the email that popped up on her screen.

After a moment, she hummed in acknowledgement. “I can actually work with this. Set up a funding for the hospital this guy works at, will you?”

“Right away, Boss.”

She spent the next few hours working jovially, throwing herself into the only thing she could always enjoy. Tinkering, building things, fixing stuff… that was what she was good at. What she liked to do. There was nothing quite like the feeling than when she built something, and it ended up working. It didn’t matter if it was a simple led switching on and off, or one of the most advanced support gears for walking. It always felt just as good. An elation that couldn’t be compared to anything else.

The pure love for creation was what made her the mechanic, the engineer she was.

She was a lot of things, yes. She was a billionaire, a genius, a philanthropist, a superhero, a businesswoman. But most of all, she was a mechanic. This was _her,_ her core, her very sense of being.

And she was good at it. The best, even.

And once she was done with the prosthetic, she would show the world why one should still trust Iron Maiden. Why she didn’t need the Avengers.

She had a baby to protect, and she _will_ protect them. Whatever was coming, whoever thought that messing with Earth was a good idea, they would learn.

She will teach them the error of their ways.

-

It was hours later when Vision floated into her workshop. He had a lost expression on his face, giving the impression of a ghost adrift in a maze only he could see.

“Miss Stark,” he greeted quietly, his eyes locked onto the half-done prosthetic laid out on the table. “I heard you’ve been looking for me. I’m sorry, I’m afraid I was… lost.”

Toni looked at her friend? Son? Creation? thoughtfully, putting down the soldering iron. She could see his pain as clearly as she could sense her own. Poor synthezoid had a rough time adjusting after the Civil War, much like her. His pain was familiar too.

“Hey, don’t sweat it,” she laid a hand on his arm and gave him an encouraging smile. “Are you alright?”

There was a moment of silence where Vision just stared at nothing in particular, each second making Toni more concerned.

“I… I don’t think I am,” he admitted, a hesitant look on his face as he sat down on one of the chairs.

Toni nodded and turned off the soldering iron completely, then she spun around on her chair so she was facing Vision completely. “Want to share?”

She really, really hoped he would. She wanted to help him so much, and while she had ideas of her own of what could be bothering him, she knew he had to make the decision to reach out about them. She couldn’t do anything until he did.

Vision seemed to be considering the question, before nodding slowly. “I know that what happened to Colonel Rhodes was my fault.” His eyes wondered over to the prosthetic again, hesitating. Then, he continued in a much quieter voice, “And since Wanda left, I feel like there is a hole in my chest.”

Toni sucked in a sharp breath. Yep, she guessed right.

“I can’t tell you that what happened to Rhodey wasn’t partly your fault.” She wished she could. But she couldn’t. “But we all make mistakes. The only thing we can do, is try to make up for them the best we can.” She put a hand on the half done prosthetic. “It’s what I’m doing. And you being here means it’s what you intend to do as well. And that’s what matters in the end.”

She cringed at how cliché that sounded, but she meant it. A lot of things led to Rhodey being hurt, and there were a many mistakes along the way. Toni knew she wasn’t blameless either. But the question was who was here to see it through to the end, and who ran from the problems.

“I’ve apologized to the Colonel,” Vision admitted. “But it never feels like enough.”

_And it never will_ , Toni thought tiredly. She certainly never stopped apologizing for her own mistakes.

“These things take time,” she said instead, looking him in the eye. “But it _will_ get better.”

Vision nodded, and they sat in silence for a while, contemplating.

“Is it wrong that I still care for her?” Vision asked finally, staring at the other end of the lab. He didn’t need to say her name for Toni to know who he is talking about.

She considered the question before answering, “Well, she punched you through the floor. Many floors, in fact. I’ve seen the video, and I definitely don’t agree with what happened in the compound. But…” She hesitated. “Love isn’t always reasonable. There is nothing wrong with caring for someone, as long as you don’t lose sight of who you are in the meantime.”

Wanda was… a complicated problem, to say the least. She wasn’t evil, Toni knew that, but that didn’t make her good. She never really understood consequences. Not with the Hulk and Johannesburg, not with Ultron, and definitely not with the Civil War.

Maybe all she needed was guidance, maybe she was a lost cause. Toni didn’t know and didn’t want to be the one to make that judgement. She wasn’t impartial enough, not after what she’d put in her head.

“Do you still care for the Captain?”

And wow, right for the heart, why don’t you. Toni sucked in a breath. “I do. In a way, I think I’ll always love him. But I’ll never forgive him.”

There was understanding in Vision’s eyes, although Toni suspected he didn’t feel the same way for Wanda. But then again, the situation was much different.

A minute or two later, Vision spoke again. “I’m sorry for not being here when you needed me. Today I’ve put you in unnecessary danger.”

Toni grimaced. FRIDAY told on her, of course she did. The AI considered Vision as partly JARVIS, and consequently someone who had access to all the information. It was Toni’s fault, for never bothering to change that, but she couldn’t bring herself to regret it.

“As I said, don’t sweat it buddy. Just make sure not to do it again, and we are golden.” She flashed him a smile.

The silence returned, but this time it was heavier. The conversation wasn’t over yet, Toni could see it on Vision’s face, but the synthezoid obviously didn’t know how to voice his thoughts. So, Toni let him think, staying silent.

“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but…” he started after a few minutes, hesitant but curious, “who am I to you, Miss Stark?”

Huh, that was an unexpected question. Toni tilted her head to the side, thinking.

“Who do you want me to be?” she asked back. She was, in some sense, his parent, his creator. She programmed JARVIS, and the original idea of Ultron was hers as well. She was the one who uploaded JARVIS to that body. But Vision _wasn’t_ JARVIS, and she did her best to remember that. And yes, on some days, it still hurt to hear his voice, to remember what she had lost.

_Everyone leaves._

She cared for Vision too, of course she did. But he wasn’t a child. Never had been. Which was why she needed it to be him to define what their relationship was. It had to be his choice.

Vision seemed to realize that too, and he once again got that faraway look on his face. “I don’t know,” he admitted finally.

“Well, think about it, then,” Toni smiled at him. “And if you need me, I’m always here.”

Vision nodded slowly as he stood. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He made for the door, but before he passed through, he added, “and I am here for you too. From now on. I’ll do my best to protect you and the child.”

Toni felt her smile widen. “You better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.  
> I still don't own the MCU (sadly).  
> The quote at the beginning is from RWBY.


End file.
